"WE MUST CUT AND RUN FOR IT!"
It was surprising to see the effect of the cowboy's announcement.
Frank was in some measure prepared for it. He had entertained a sudden
suspicion as he noticed the emotion of the other. But his chums seemed
almost thunderstruck.
"Tell me about that, will you!" said Jerry, feebly waving his hands.
"Did you ever hear of such luck?" ejaculated Will.
"Beats a story all hollow. Here's the prodigal son found at last, eating
his dinner with the--" began Bluff, when Jerry pounced on him.
"Don't you dare finish that, on your life! Of course, you can call
yourself swine, if you please, but I object. But is it really true,
Reddy? Are you Hank's long lost brother?" he asked, turning to the
other.
"I certainly am, although I ought to be ashamed of the way I've treated
my folks. All for a measly little matter, too. My eyes have been openin'
lately, and I was mighty near headin' Eastways before you came," said
the cowboy, hanging his head.
"Then perhaps you'll go back with us, and surprise the folks?" suggested
Frank eagerly.
"Well, now, I'd like to do that same, if so be you fellows mean it. You
see, my folks ain't always lived in Centerville. I thought that lots of
things you talked about seemed kinder familiar to me, for I was brought
up in that part of the State. Yes, I'll go home, and try and make up for
what I done to hurt the old folks. Somehow, just the idea of it makes me
feel better."
He eagerly questioned the boys about his people. Of course, they did not
have much news to tell him. Hank was only a year or so older than his
brother, and the absent one was very much interested in hearing how they
had met him, and what awakened Hank to a consciousness of the terrible
mistake he was making in associating with unscrupulous men.
After that Reddy assumed a new place with the boys. He seemed to be
closer to them than ever, and Frank no longer wondered why the other's
sunburned face had seemed partly familiar to him when he first met him.
"You and Hank are very much alike," he said, later on, to Reddy.
"They used to say that at home. I was just big enough to be accused of
many of Hank's tricks, and once I got a lickin' he deserved."
"And another thing," laughed Frank, "I know now what he was about to
tell me at the time I was dragged away by my folks. I was asking him how
I could ever recognize you, in case we met, and he put up his hand to
his head, but I never heard the rest of it."
"Why, of course, he was going to tell you that I had a mop of beautiful
red hair, and that Teddy went with Reddy. I guess you'd have known me if
you'd heard that," was the good-natured remark of the found one.
On the following day the four outdoor chums determined to set out in a
bunch to have a grand hunt, following the dense woods far down the
valley. The last words of the old stockman were a caution in connection
with the dry grass.
"Be careful about a fire, lads. If you make one, be sure the last spark
is out before you leave it. A forest fire would play the mischief just
now, with everything so dry. But somehow, I've got hopes that the rain
is coming soon," and he looked into the west, as though the few
low-down clouds gave him encouragement.
When noon came the boys had put up a couple of elk, but at such a
distance that no one but Bluff fired, and he because he knew no better.
"Do you think I wounded him?" he had the nerve to ask, whereat Jerry
looked at Frank and just smiled broadly.
"Anyhow, they ran off faster after I fired," asserted Bluff confidently.
"I should think anything would," was all Jerry said, and if there was
malice in the remark Bluff did not know it in his innocence.
While they sat down to eat the lunch they had carried along Frank called
attention to the fact that the wind had risen.
"Perhaps Mr. Mabie was right, after all, and there is a rainstorm coming
before long," suggested Will.
"Then I hope it'll have the decency to hold off until we get home," said
Bluff.
"Oh, a little wetting wouldn't hurt us. We're not made of sugar or salt.
But perhaps we'd better not go any further. We've come a long way since
breakfast. This valley seems to have no end, and it broadens out down
here, too."
"Yes; and, Frank, have you noticed how thick the trees grow, too? Why,
in some places a fat man would have trouble getting through between the
trunks," said Jerry.
"What ails Frank? He seems to be sniffing the air like a hound," asked
Will.
"Oh, he always declared he had a fine scent, and I've noticed that he
knows when dinner is ready, ahead of the rest of us," remarked Jerry.
Frank laughed good-naturedly.
"To tell the truth, I was wondering, fellows, whether we could be near
another camp," he remarked.
"Did you hear anybody shout?" asked Will.
"No; but when there came a sudden shift to the wind I thought I got a
scent of fire. No, it wasn't cooking, this time, Jerry, so don't get
ready to accuse me of that weakness again; just something burning."
"Say! you don't think it could be the woods afire, do you?"
"Talk to me about your ghost-seers, will you! Will, here, can jump on to
trouble quicker than any fellow I know. Why, if the woods were on fire,
don't you think we'd have found that fact out before now, Mr. Faint
Heart? I guess such a thing couldn't happen without a heap of smoke that
would look like a pall, and appal us, in the bargain."
"Well, all I can say is, I'm not hankering after any forest fire
experience after what Mr. Mabie told us about those friends of his who
were nearly burned to death seven years ago; and that was a prairie
fire, too," observed Will, continuing to cast anxious glances around.
"Amen to that," remarked Bluff.
"Why, you must think I'm just wild to try my legs, with a healthy blaze
jumping after me; but I'm not, all the same. Come along, Lazy-bones!
We're going to have the delightful pleasure of covering those ten miles
back again," and Jerry pulled Will to his feet.
"Ten miles!" groaned the other dismally, making a pretense of hobbling,
as if his muscles had given out. "How in the world can I ever do it?"
"Well, sing out when you want to stop. We'll hang you up in a tree, safe
and sound, just as I did that wolf I got; and later on one of the boys
can come for you with a horse," was Jerry's cheerful remark.
"Oh, I'd hate to put you to any additional trouble, so I'll try my best
to limp along," replied Will, who, of course, was only shamming, in that
he was not half so tired as he tried to make out.
So they turned their faces toward the home camp, and started trudging
along, now and then calling to one another as something caught their
fancy.
Will had had little opportunity to make use of his picture-taking
machine this trip. His stock of films was beginning to run low, and only
special subjects must claim his attention from now on. Besides, he had
several views of the great woods, and the light was so poor under the
trees that it required a time exposure to bring out the details.
"I think it's a mean shame none of you fellows think enough of me to get
up some sort of excitement, in order to let me snap you off," he was
saying as he tramped along.
"Tell me about that, will you! The chap really thinks that it's our duty
to do all sorts of remarkable stunts, in order that he may have the
pleasure of snapping us off in ridiculous positions!"
"Hear! hear! That was the finest speech I ever knew Jerry to put up. As
a rule, he leaves the heavy talk to me, and is satisfied to just grunt
out his ideas. But look here, Frank, I believe you were right," said
Bluff, stopping to elevate his nose in a significant fashion.
"Oh! dear me! Do you smell smoke, too?" demanded Will.
"Why, so do I, now that you mention it. And say! just cast your eyes
back of us, fellows! Don't it seem as though there was more or less
smoke in the woods over yonder?" asked Jerry.
The four boys now showed sudden animation.
"Hark to the wind, too! It's beginning to make a sound up there in the
tree-tops. Which way is it coming, Frank?" asked Will.
Frank's face began to assume a serious look. The wind was fairly growing
stronger with every passing minute. If the woods should be afire, this
would whip the flames furiously, and send them speeding along at a
dangerous pace.
"It begins to look bad for us, boys," he remarked.
"What! Do you really mean it, or are you just trying to play a joke?"
"You know me better than that, Will. There is certainly a brush fire
back there. Some camper has left his fire, and the rising wind has
carried it into the dead leaves," said Frank soberly, surveying his
surroundings.
"Could we push forward and put it out before it does any damage?" asked
Bluff.
"I'm afraid it's too late for that now. See there! The smoke is getting
thicker and thicker all the time. Boys, we might as well look the matter
straight in the face."
"What do you mean, Frank?" asked Will in a trembling voice.
"We must cut and run for it, that's all, for the fire is coming
swiftly!"